Great news indeed. Hopefully this actually goes through. I really like planned location, That side of downtown could use some love. That being said and seeing how this is SA, I wont get my hopes up for this project.

Don't be cynical. A project that has the back of the Mayor, Graham Weston and Frost is getting built.

Don't be cynical. A project that has the back of the Mayor, Graham Weston and Frost is getting built.

What do you expect? We've had it rough in the high rise development area compared to the rest of the state. HDRC shoots down pretty much everything. When something does get approved, you can bet they are going to have numerous problems with the design. I'm still bitter as hell about the proposed Joske's Tower project. That was by far my favorite proposal of the past two decades and perfect for SA. Should have been approved and could have went on to be a great model to follow for any future high rise developments downtown.

I'll never forget when the Frost Bank Tower Austin project was announced, giving Austin its first true signature tower. While knowing they were headquartered in San Antonio and the bland building they called home. So yeah that's the only reason I'm holding out any hope. Maybe Frost will finally give its hometown the signature tower it deserves.

What do you expect? We've had it rough in the high rise development area compared to the rest of the state. HDRC shoots down pretty much everything. When something does get approved, you can bet they are going to have numerous problems with the design. I'm still bitter as hell about the proposed Joske's Tower project. That was by far my favorite proposal of the past two decades and perfect for SA. Should have been approved and could have went on to be a great model to follow for any future high rise developments downtown.

San Antonio gives the HDRC more credit (or disrespect) than it deserves. Correct me if I'm wrong, but they only have oversight if one of three conditions is met 1) the building is designated historic or in a historic district; 2) it's owned by the City; or 3) it sits in the Rio Overlay area along the river. It seems like they have more power than they do because well, so far all the development downtown has been clustered around the river, been a reuse of an old building, or been City-owned. The UHS expansion, HEB store, and developments along South Flores like 1010 didn't have to be approved by them. Considering the new tower's site and it's private owner, my guess is the HDRC won't be involved.

As for the Joske's tower, it was a beautiful proposal for a bad location. I agreed with the proposal until the National Parks Service and UNESCO team said the tower could jeopardize a World Heritage designation for the Alamo and the missions. IMO that designation and the attention it will bring our city is more important than the tower. But it was a really good design and in a perfect world they'd build that sucker in another part of downtown.

What do you expect? We've had it rough in the high rise development area compared to the rest of the state. HDRC shoots down pretty much everything. When something does get approved, you can bet they are going to have numerous problems with the design. I'm still bitter as hell about the proposed Joske's Tower project. That was by far my favorite proposal of the past two decades and perfect for SA. Should have been approved and could have went on to be a great model to follow for any future high rise developments downtown.

I'll never forget when the Frost Bank Tower Austin project was announced, giving Austin its first true signature tower. While knowing they were headquartered in San Antonio and the bland building they called home. So yeah that's the only reason I'm holding out any hope. Maybe Frost will finally give its hometown the signature tower it deserves.

You give the HDRC too much credit. Too much. You can't use hyperbole like "they shoot down pretty much everything.", which is completely untrue. I see the HDRC getting way too much hate on here for reasons that shouldn't attributted to them.

The GH wasn't redesigned because.of the HDRC. It was redesigned because the builder who was also the designer went with the least expensive design.

The HDRC doesn't shoot down pretty much everything. A 350 ft high rise was approved at Navarro and Commerce in 2008. The developer never built it but it was approved.

The Joske's tower, which isn't dead, was/is a very unique case. It's being built atop a historic structure and very close to the Alamo. Proper attention was needed and is still needed.

Imo, had the developer used the second design initially, the hubbub that was created by the likes of the San Antonio Conservation Society wouldn't have been as loud or even have occurred. The first design was awful and that is what sparked the outrage.

Is the HdRc perfect? No. But they aren't the boogieman you seem to think they are.

Where have you read that the 300 units will be part of the building that Frost is going to occupy?

Sources.

I've heard the rumblings about this deal for a while now. The reason it came out a few days ago is because Castro is leaving for Washington D.C.

They sped everything up once he decided he wanted to seek higher power.

The CPS tower has a lot of interest from developers, including Weston, and CPS will go with the best proposal. The CEO really wants an iconic tower for downtown as well. So this will be very interesting.

Graham's vision with the Frost tower is to use it not only to bring new class A office space for downtown but to use it to house tech companies. Either those coming out of Geekdom or by attracting tech jobs from out of state.

He then wants to build housing for those employees.

Good times ahead.

Just think about it. We have Goldbury developing The Pearl, Graham developing downtown and Lifshutz helping to develop Southtown.

I am excited about the Frost and CPS proposed towers and hope a truly iconic style(timeless) is chosen for at least one of them. To me, iconic, would be something like this clock tower or one of the other ornate towers shown in this photo of Chicago. The Tower Life would be another example. Not that I don't welcome the various styles of modern architecture, I just think it would be cooler to see a soaring clock tower with perhaps the Frost emblem outlining the clock. I just hope these structures get off the ground soon regardless of the style of architecture that is picked, I am sure the towers will be tasteful nonetheless.

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2014 San Antonio Pop.1.44 million
metro 2,429,000/REGION 4.6 million

Great news for SA! I would expect this tower to be designed as a thiner one than most office structures (since it may be a residential component). Office projects are usually much thicker than residential ones...since you cannot have "interior" residential units.

Great news for SA! I would expect this tower to be designed as a thiner one than most office structures (since it may be a residential component). Office projects are usually much thicker than residential ones...since you cannot have "interior" residential units.

Here in Raleigh, we have an office/residential combo; it has only 275k sq. ft. of office and 139 condo units (32 floors, 538 ft.). It has 357 spots built-in to the building and 1,050 across the street and includes public parking.

So yes it seems light, and no it doesn't seem like enough if the city also wanted some public parking in the building on top of that which is provided for the offices and residents.